Words in the news – toll, death toll

Toll – death toll

Toll and death toll – You will see these words in news reports about earthquakes, wars, floods, tsunamis and other disasters, especially when a lot of people die.

In this context, toll means death, loss or damage caused by a disaster. The word ‘toll’ often refers to the number of people who have died. This is clear when the word ‘death’ is used with ‘toll’ – “death toll”.

Real examples: Below are some real examples from the news:

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Japan mourns amid fears quake toll could run into many thousands

12 March 2011

The full horror of the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan is starting to emerge amid fears that the death toll could run into many thousands. At least 1,700 people were reported dead or missing following the earthquake and tsunami, Kyodo news agency said.

ROME — Italy’s foreign minister, Franco Frattini, said Wednesday that estimates of more than 1,000 Libyan civilians killed in clashes with security forces and government supporters “appear to be true.” Figures for deaths in the Libyan unrest have been difficult to pin down. Human Rights Watch has confirmed roughly 300 deaths in the week-long uprising, while noting that its estimate is conservative because of the difficulty in gathering information from morgues and hospitals when phone service is intermittent and the Internet is nearly blacked out.

The death toll from Sunday’s tsunamis has jumped to more than 118,000 after Indonesia reported nearly 80,000 people were killed in that country alone. Estimates of the death toll are continuing to rise in most areas. Sri Lanka reports more than 24,000 dead, and at least 10,000 were killed in India. In Thailand, more than 4,000 are feared dead and dozens of deaths are reported in Malaysia, Myanmar, Maldives, Somalia and Tanzania.